


Early Mornings

by atlanticslide



Category: Unter Uns
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 15:24:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15888759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlanticslide/pseuds/atlanticslide
Summary: One of the things that Easy has always loved about photography is the ability to preserve moments forever. Maybe it's the result of losing his parents, his home, having his whole life change so drastically and living for months in a cloud of uncertainty about his future that makes him feel almost desperate sometimes to freeze a moment in time and hold onto it - he's never quite figured it out, but in any case, he loves being able to snap a picture of Ringo calm and at peace and so perfectly beautiful and know that he'll have this moment always.





	Early Mornings

**Author's Note:**

> Just some hastily-written fluff to help us through these dark times.

He's not really a morning person - one of the perks of owning his own business and working freelance jobs: he can set his own schedule. The kiosk does need to be opened pretty early in the morning, for those poor souls who do need to be at an office somewhere early in the day and need coffee to get them there, but Easy's got a decent schedule down with Emma so that it doesn't actually have to be him to open it up each morning.

So usually it's Ringo who wakes first, his brain hardwired to snap to attention at worktime like an alarm clock, and there are some mornings when Ringo is awake and up and gone even before Easy has opened his eyes (he's occasionally been known to leave a note with something simple and sweet like _love you. have a good day._ hastily scrawled across it, because Ringo is secretly a huge sap, sometimes with _bring me a coffee at lunchtime_ added to the end like an afterthought). Ringo tends to be disgustingly cheerful in the mornings - or at least, cheerful by Ringo's general levels. It might be cute, if Easy didn't hate being awake himself.

It's unusual, then, when Easy finds himself drifting into consciousness with the light still low in the sky and Ringo still snoring softly against his shoulder. He's not sure what woke him, maybe the dream he'd been having that he already can't quite remember, something about zombies. He hadn't jolted awake, but his heart is beating a little fast, and he lets the weight of Ringo's arm slung across his waist drag him fully awake. 

Turning a bit, he lets his head butt up gently against Ringo's, revels in the warmth coming from him in the cool, still, quiet of the early morning. He's never really had the opportunity to have Ringo like this, a calm, heavy weight and gentle breathing against Easy's skin, and he takes the opportunity to really revel in it for a moment, not quite ready to fall back asleep yet. The smell of him, the feel of his skin as Easy runs a hand softly over his bare arm and around to his back. Ringo doesn't stir, and Easy indulges in the urge to press a kiss to his forehead. 

He moves his hand up to run the backs of his knuckles lightly over Ringo's cheek. Even in his more relaxed moments, there always seems to be something buzzing in Ringo's mind, a tightness in the corners of his mouth that's rarely ever fully absent. He's never fully understood that about Ringo, what it is that goes on in the deepest recesses of his mind that makes it so hard for him to ever be fully at ease, except very occasionally when it's just the two of them alone together. 

All of those lines, all of that tension is gone at the moment, though, leaving Ringo in this state of vulnerability and ease that almost no one ever sees, and it fills Easy with warmth. Ringo's hair is a little bit mashed against his forehead, he's got a crease over one eyebrow from where his face had been pressed against the pillow or against Easy's t-shirt, a couple of faint freckles are coming out across the bridge of his nose, highlighted by the dim light filtering in through the window, and he's just really never looked more beautiful. Sometimes Easy thinks that Ringo is so blindingly hot that Easy can't stand it - and, in his more self-conscious moments, can't quite understand how a guy like Ringo is really here beside him - and all he can do is touch Ringo and think, absurdly, _I want this forever_. 

He brushes his thumb over Ringo's cheekbone and then pushes himself back carefully, gently, reaching behind himself over the side of the bed, doing his best not to disturb Ringo. He feels around for a moment for his camera bag, left by the bed last night in a fit of laziness after a late-evening shoot. When Ringo suddenly shifts against the bed, Easy freezes, twisted awkwardly with one hand resting on Ringo's arm and one hand dangling off the side of the bed. He holds his breath for a long moment, waiting for Ringo to open his eyes, and when he doesn't, Easy keeps feeling for his bag and finally manages to get a hold of it, unzipping it carefully with one hand. 

When he's got the camera in hand, he puts a little distance between himself and Ringo, shuffling back far enough to get Ringo in the frame. It's lucky he's got the 50mm lens already on the camera instead of the 200mm, and when he brings the viewfinder up to his eye, his breath catches a bit at the beauty of Ringo's hair, his eyelids, the slope of his arm, the way his fingers rest against the bed next to his face. 

One of the things that Easy has always loved about photography is the ability to preserve moments forever. Maybe it's the result of losing his parents, his home, having his whole life change so drastically and living for months in a could of uncertainty about his future that makes him feel almost desperate at times to freeze a moment in time and hold onto it - he's never quite figured it out, but in any case, he loves being able to snap a picture of Ringo calm and at peace and so perfectly beautiful and know that he'll have this moment always. 

He takes a couple more, smiling to himself at Ringo's slightly parted mouth, and adjusts the lens to capture the faint cracks on his lips after a night of sleeping with his mouth open, the shadow of his eyelashes against his cheeks. The corners of Ringo's mouth turn up ever so slightly, the beginnings of a smile that makes Easy smile in return, that warmth spreading through him again.

He forgets himself for a moment, too lost in focusing the lens and pushing himself up on his elbow to get a better view of the curve of Ringo's ear, and that's when Ringo sleepily blinks his eyes open.

"Hey," Easy whispers, bringing the camera back down to rest on the bed and laying his head back down on the pillow next to Ringo.

Ringo's smile grows wider, even though bleary eyes. "Hi. Were you just taking a picture of me?" 

Easy grins and takes the opportunity to get off one more snap of the camera, capturing Ringo's heavy-lidded eyes and sleepy smile, before reaching around to lay the camera behind him on the bed. He shifts forward into Ringo's space and Ringo wraps an arm around him, pulling him in and laying a soft kiss against Easy's lips.

"You're just too cute when you're not grumpy and scheming," Easy teases, the words spoken against Ringo's lips.

"Hmm, I'm always scheming," Ringo replies with a smile. "Even when I'm asleep." 

"Uh huh." Easy rubs up and down Ringo's back for a moment before bringing his hand up to stroke his thumb across Ringo's chin. "You were smiling in your sleep," he says, and there it is suddenly, randomly, one of those moments that Easy loves him so much that he can hardly breathe. "What were you dreaming about?"

"You," Ringo replies effortlessly, a gentle smile on his face.

Easy feels his face grow warm and he rolls his eyes to deflect it. "Uh huh. Such a suck up."

Ringo doesn't say anything to that, doesn't say what he was really dreaming about, just moves to press his face against the crook of Easy's neck. Easy goes back to stroking his back as Ringo begins kissing down his neck. He'd planned on getting a couple of pictures before going back to seep, but when Ringo rolls them over so that Easy is on top of him and begins tugging at Easy's shirt, all thoughts of sleep or photos or gentle quiet are abandoned.


End file.
